Sealed, sidemarker lamp assembly

ABSTRACT

A vehicle lamp assembly in which an unbased, wedge-type bulb is received by a pair of laterally spaced clips supported on a reflector and connected to a pair of tubular contact terminals projecting through the reflector. The bulb engaging clips are retained in position by a fence above which the bulb projects between caps connected to the fence. The caps project into the terminals and are welded to the reflector to position and seal the terminals therewithin.

United States Patent [1 1" Roller et al.

s? AVAKLAB'LE cow [1 1] July 15, 1975 SEALED, SIDEMARKER LAMP ASSEMBLY[75] Inventors: Philip C. Roller, Ashville, N.Y.;

Gordon F. Anderson, Cheshire, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Truck-Lite Company, Inc.,

Jamestown, N.Y.

[22] Filed: May 9, 1974 [21] Appl. No: 468,580

[52] US. Cl 240/8.2; 240/822 [51] Int. Cl B60q 1/32 [58] Field of Search240/82, 8.22, 8.3, 52;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1963 3,114,182 Trautneret al 240/8.2

3,327,110 6/1967 Baldwin 240/82 X Primary ExaminerRichard L. MosesAtt0mey,.Agent, or Firm-Clarence A. OBrien; Harvey B. Jacobson [5 7ABSTRACT A vehicle lamp assembly in which an unbased, wedgetype bulb isreceived by a pair of laterally spaced clips supported on a reflectorand connected to a pair of tubular contact terminals projecting throughthe reflector. The bulb engaging clips are retained in position by afence above which the bulb projects between caps connected to the fence.The caps project into the terminals and are welded to the reflector toposition and seal the terminals therewithin.

15 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures BEST AVAILABLE COPY PATENYED 15 $895. 228SHEET 1 SEALED, SIDEMARKER LAMP ASSEMBLY This invention relates tovehicle lamp assemblies and in particular to a sealed, sidemarker typeof throw away lamp.

There are many relatively inexpensive, sealed lamp assemblies on themarket adapted to be installed on vehicles for visual marking purposes.Some of these lamp assemblies include an unbased, wedge-type bulb of thetype manufactured for example as a miniture lamp-type of instrumentindicator by General Electric. In view of the small size of such bulbs,there is a problem in positioning and holding the bulb in proper placewithin the lamp assembly under adverse conditions. Generally, pottingand soldering operations have been utilized for positioning, sealing andestablishment of electrical contact. The foregoing operations do ofcourse involve some expense in assembling the lamp and contribute to avariation in the quality of the product produced. It is therefore animportant object of the present invention to provide a vehicle lampassembly which will be less costly to produce'and avoid to a greaterextent the bulb positioning, contact establishing and sealing problemsaforementioned in connection with prior art arrangements. A furtherobject of the present invention is to provide a lamp assembly portionsof which may be salvaged for reuse in connection with standard partsthat are readily stored.

In accordance with the present invention, a lamp assembly is formed froma specially constructed mounting reflector, a pair of bulb receivingclips having tubular contact terminal pins integrally connected theretoand electrically non-conductive positioning and sealing elements adaptedto engage the terminal pins and clips for positioning the same on thereflector. The positioning and sealing element is furthermoreultra-sonically welded to the reflector to establish a positive seal forthe terminal pins which project through the reflector. A lens coversecured to the reflector encloses the foregoing assembly with anunbased, wedgetype bulb received in the clips.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a typical lamp assembly constructedin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the lamp assembly shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the novel components of the lampassembly disassembled.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the lamp assembly.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken substantially througha plane indicated by section line 55 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side sectional view taken substantially through aplane indicated by section line 6-6 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing the components as illustrated inFIG. 6 disassembled.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a lamp assembly generallyreferred to by reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1 includes any suitable,light-transmitting 'lens cover 12 secured to and thereby sealing thelamp assembly on a mounting reflector generally referred to by referencenumeral 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the rear face 16 of the reflector isgenerally planar but includes a central projecting formation 18 fromwhich a pair of laterally spaced tubular projections 20 extend. Thetubular projections 20 enclose the projecting open ends of a pair oftubular contact terminal pins 22. Male connecting prongs are adapted tobe inserted into the external ends of the pins 22 in order to establishan electrical circuit through the lamp assembly for energizing andilluminating the same. A nonconductive, anticorrosion compound such as apetroleum grease 24 may be inserted into the radial space between theterminal contact pins 22 and the tubular projections 20 as shown in bothFIGS. 2 and 5.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 7 in particular, the reflector 14 includesa front planar surface 26 parallel to the rear face 16 surrounded by arim 28 adapted to engage and be secured to the lens cover 12 in anysuitable fashion such as welding or by adhesive. The reflector as wellas the lens cover are made of an electrically non-conductive materialsuch as synthetic plastic. The front surface 26 of the reflector isformed with a reflec tive recess 30 bordering a pair of thicker portions32 of the reflector having openings 34 through which the tubular contactterminal pins 22 extend. A pair of supporting projections 36 extendforwardly from the surface 26 of the reflector in laterally spacedrelationship to each other below and in alignment with the openings 34in order to support a pair of integrally formed, electrically conductivecomponents generally referred to by reference numeral 38. The components38 are fitted onto the reflector between two pair of guide formations 40projecting from the reflector between the support projections 36 and theopenings 34.

As more clearly seen in FIG. 3, each of the electrically conductivecompenents 38 includes one of the tubular, contact terminal pins 22aforementioned integrally connected by an electrically conductive strip42 extending from one open end of the contact pin to a bulb receivingclip generally referred to by reference numeral 44. The strip 42 isformed with a right angle bend and is connected to the resilient clip 44between two pair of laterally spaced bulb engaging fingers 46. Theentire component 38 may be cut and folded from a thin sheet ofelectrically conductive metal. Further, by virtue of the symmetricalconstruction of the components 38, they are all interchangeable as willbe apparent.

As more clearly seen in FIG. 5, the bulb holder 44 is seated on one ofthe supporting projections 36 of the reflector with the connecting strip42 abutting the front surface 26 of the reflector between the guideformations 40, while the contact terminal pin 22 extends through anopening 34. Both pairsof bulb holders 44 are adapted to be held on thesupporting projections 36 by a fence portion 48 of an electricallynon-conductive, positioning and sealing element generally referred to byreference numeral 50 adapted to be secured by ultrasonic welding to thereflector. The fence portion 48" abuts the supporting projections 36 andmay be welded thereto in parallel spaced relation to the surface 26 ohof the tubular contact terminals 22. Thus, the cap portions will alsoposition the tubular contact terminals within the openings 34 and whenwelded to the reflector will seal the contact terminals within thereflector. The connecting portions 52 of the element 50 will also coverthe connecting strip portions 42 of the electrically conductivecomponents 38. A completely sealed assembly is thereby formed so thatinternal parts are protected from the corrosive affects of weather.

The element 50 also firmly holds the bulb holding clips 44 in laterallyspaced relationship to each other for receiving the base portion of aconventional miniature wedge-type bulb 58. One pair of adjacent fingers46 of each bulb holder 44 will accordingly engage the terminal leads ofthe bulb 58 thereby establishing electrical connections through thecomponents 38 to any male contact prongs inserted into the terminal pins22.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the electricallyconductive components 38 and clip 44 are not only interchangeable butreplaceable as in the case of the bulb 58. Further, a good qualityproduct may be produced without use of any potting material orsoldering. Still further, the construction and assembly of the lamphereinbefore described lends itself to the use of automation inproduction to a greater extent than heretofore possible with prior artarrangements.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a contact terminalextending through the reflector and having internal and external ends, abulb holder supported on the reflector, an electrically conductiveconnector interconnecting the bulb holder and the contact terminal, andelectrically non-conductive means secured to the reflector in enclosingrelation to the internal end of the contact terminal and projectingthereinto for sealing and positioning the terminal with respect to thereflectOl.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said contact terminal comprises atubular pin open at said internal end to receive the electricallynon-conductive means.

3. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a contact terminalextending through the reflector, a bulb holder supported on thereflector, an electrically conductive connector interconnecting the bulbholder and the contact terminal, and electrically non-conductive meanssecured to the reflector in engagement with the contact terminal and thebulb holder for respectively sealing and positioning the terminal andthe holder with respect to the reflector, said contact terminalcomprising a tubular pin having opposite open ends, said nonconductivemeans including a cap portion projecting into the tubular pin throughone of said open ends.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said bulb holder includes aresilient clip adapted to receive an unbased, wedge type of bulb inlaterally offset relation to said connector.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said connector comprises aconductive strip abutting the reflector in underlying relation to thenon-conductive means and formed integrally with the contact terminal andthe bulb holder.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said nonconductive means furtherincludes a fence portion engaging the bulb holder in spaced relation tothe reflector and a reinforced spacing portion interconnecting the capand fence portion inlaterally spaced relation to the bulb holder.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said reflector includes a planarmember having a recessed reflective portion of reduced thickness and anopening extending through the planar member adjacent to the recessedportion within which the contact terminal is positioned, and asupporting projection extending from the planar member in spacedrelation to said opening on which the bulb holder is positioned.

8. The combination of claim 3 wherein said connector comprises aconductive strip abutting the reflector in underlying relation to thenon-conductive means and formed integrally with the contact terminal andthe bulb holder.

9. The combination of claim 3 wherein said nonconductive means furtherincludes a fence portion engaging the bulb holder in spaced relation tothe reflector and a reinforced spacing portion interconnecting the capand fence portion in laterally spaced relation to the bulb holder.

10. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a contact terminalextending through the reflector, a bulb holder supported on thereflector, an electrically conductive connector interconnecting the bulbholder and the contact terminal, and electrically nonconductive meanssecured to the reflector in engagement with the contact terminal and thebulb holder for respectively sealing and positioning the terminal andthe holder with respect to the reflector, said reflector including aplanar member having a recessed reflective portion of reduced thicknessand an opening extending through the planar member adjacent to therecessed portion within which the contact terminal is positioned, and asupporting projection extending from the planar member in spacedrelation to said opening on which the bulb holder is positioned.

11. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a pair of contactterminals extending through the reflector having internal and externalends, a pair of laterally spaced bulb engaging elements supported on thereflector and respectively connected to the terminals electrically, andelectrically non-conductive means engageable with the reflector inenclosing relation to said internal ends of the terminals and projectingthereinto for positioning and sealing the terminals within thereflector.

12. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a pair of contactterminals extending through the reflector, a pair of laterally spacedbulb engaging elements supported on the reflector and respectivelyconnected to the terminals electrically, and electrically nonconductivemeans engageable with the terminals for positioning and sealing the samewithin the reflector, said non-conductive means including a pair of capportions abutting the reflector and projecting into the contactterminals, a fence portion abutting the bulb engaging elements in spacedrelation to the reflector, and a pair of spacing portionsinterconnecting the cap portions with the fence portions in straddlingrelation to the bulb engaging elements.

13. The combination of claim 12 wherein each of said contact terminalscomprises a tubular pin connected to one of the bulb engaging elementsinto which one of the cap portions project.

14. The combination of claim 13 wherein each of said bulb engagingelements includes a resilient clip connected in laterally offsetrelation to one of the

1. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a contact terminalextending through the reflector and having internal and external ends, abulb holder supported on the reflector, an electrically conductiveconnector interconnecting the bulb holder and the contact terminal, andelectrically non-conductive means secured to the reflector in enclosingrelation to the internal end of the contact terminal and projectingthereinto for sealing and positioning the terminal with respect to thereflector.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said contact terminalcomprises a tubular pin open at said internal end to receive theelectrically non-conductive means.
 3. In a lamp assembly, a mountingreflector, a contact terminal extending through the reflector, a bulbholder supported on the reflector, an electrically conductive connectorinterconnecting the bulb holder and the contact terminal, andelectrically non-conductive means secured to the reflector in engagementwith the contact terminal and the bulb holder for respectively sealingand positioning the terminal and the holder with respect to thereflector, said contact terminal comprising a tubular pin havingopposite open ends, said non-conductive means including a cap portionprojecting into the tubular pin through one of said open ends.
 4. Thecombination of claim 3 wherein said bulb holder includes a resilientclip adapted to receive an unbased, wedge type of bulb in laterallyoffset relation to said connector.
 5. The combination of claim 4 whereinsaid connector comprises a conductive strip abutting the reflector inunderlying relation to the non-conductive means and formed integrallywith the contact terminal and the bulb holder.
 6. The combination ofclaim 5 wherein said non-conductive means further includes a fenceportion engaging the bulb holder in spaced relation to the reflector anda reinforced spacing portion interconnecting the cap and fence portionin laterally spaced relation to the bulb holder.
 7. The combination ofclaim 6 wherein said reflector includes a planar member having arecessed reflective portion of reduced thickness and an openingextending through the planar member adjacent to the recessed portionwithin which the contact terminal is positioned, and a supportingprojection extending from the planar member in spaced Relation to saidopening on which the bulb holder is positioned.
 8. The combination ofclaim 3 wherein said connector comprises a conductive strip abutting thereflector in underlying relation to the non-conductive means and formedintegrally with the contact terminal and the bulb holder.
 9. Thecombination of claim 3 wherein said non-conductive means furtherincludes a fence portion engaging the bulb holder in spaced relation tothe reflector and a reinforced spacing portion interconnecting the capand fence portion in laterally spaced relation to the bulb holder. 10.In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a contact terminal extendingthrough the reflector, a bulb holder supported on the reflector, anelectrically conductive connector interconnecting the bulb holder andthe contact terminal, and electrically non-conductive means secured tothe reflector in engagement with the contact terminal and the bulbholder for respectively sealing and positioning the terminal and theholder with respect to the reflector, said reflector including a planarmember having a recessed reflective portion of reduced thickness and anopening extending through the planar member adjacent to the recessedportion within which the contact terminal is positioned, and asupporting projection extending from the planar member in spacedrelation to said opening on which the bulb holder is positioned.
 11. Ina lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a pair of contact terminalsextending through the reflector having internal and external ends, apair of laterally spaced bulb engaging elements supported on thereflector and respectively connected to the terminals electrically, andelectrically non-conductive means engageable with the reflector inenclosing relation to said internal ends of the terminals and projectingthereinto for positioning and sealing the terminals within thereflector.
 12. In a lamp assembly, a mounting reflector, a pair ofcontact terminals extending through the reflector, a pair of laterallyspaced bulb engaging elements supported on the reflector andrespectively connected to the terminals electrically, and electricallynon-conductive means engageable with the terminals for positioning andsealing the same within the reflector, said non-conductive meansincluding a pair of cap portions abutting the reflector and projectinginto the contact terminals, a fence portion abutting the bulb engagingelements in spaced relation to the reflector, and a pair of spacingportions interconnecting the cap portions with the fence portions instraddling relation to the bulb engaging elements.
 13. The combinationof claim 12 wherein each of said contact terminals comprises a tubularpin connected to one of the bulb engaging elements into which one of thecap portions project.
 14. The combination of claim 13 wherein each ofsaid bulb engaging elements includes a resilient clip connected inlaterally offset relation to one of the contact terminals.
 15. Thecombination of claim 12 wherein each of said bulb engaging elementsincludes a resilient clip connected in laterally offset relation to oneof the contact terminals.